Discworld

Discworld

Cover of an early edition of The Colour of Magic; art by Josh Kirby
Author	Terry Pratchett
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Genre	Comic fantasy

Discworld is a comic fantasy book series written by the English writer Terry Pratchett, set on the fictional Discworld, a flat disc balanced on the backs of four elephants which, in turn, stand on the back of a giant turtle, Great A'Tuin. The books frequently parody, or take inspiration from, J. R. R. Tolkien, Robert E. Howard, H. P. Lovecraft and William Shakespeare, as well as mythology, folklore and fairy tales, often using them for satirical parallels with current cultural, political and scientific issues. The series is popular, with more than 80 million books sold in 37 languages.^[1][2]

Since the first novel, The Colour of Magic (1983), 40 Discworld novels have been published as of November 2013. Pratchett, who suffers from Alzheimer's disease, has said that he would be happy for his daughter Rhianna to continue the series when he is no longer able to do so.^[3] The original British editions of the first 26 novels, up to Thief of Time (2001), had distinctive cover art by Josh Kirby; the American editions, published by Harper Collins, used their own cover art. Since Kirby's death in October 2001, the covers have been designed by Paul Kidby. Companion publications include eleven short stories (some only loosely related to the Discworld), four popular science books, and a number of supplementary books and reference guides. In addition, the series has been adapted for graphic novels, for the theatre, as computer games, as music inspired by the series, and repeatedly for television.

Newly released Discworld books regularly top The Sunday Times best-sellers list, making Pratchett the UK's best-selling author in the 1990s, although he has since been overtaken by Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling. Discworld novels have also won awards such as the Prometheus Award and the Carnegie Medal. In the BBC's Big Read, four Discworld novels were in the top 100, and a total of fourteen in the top 200.

Composition

Very few of the Discworld novels have chapter divisions, instead featuring interweaving storylines. Pratchett is quoted as saying that he "just never got into the habit of chapters",^[4] later adding that "I have to shove them in the putative YA books because my editor screams until I do".^[5] However, the first Discworld novel, The Colour of Magic, was divided into "books", as is Pyramids. Additionally, Going Postal and Making Money both have chapters, a prologue, an epilogue, and brief teasers of what is to come in each chapter, in the style of A. A. Milne, Jules Verne and Jerome K. Jerome.

Themes and motifs

The Discworld novels contain common themes and motifs that run through the series. Fantasy clichés are parodied in many of the novels, as are various sub-genres of fantasy, such as fairy tales (notably Witches Abroad), witch and vampire stories (Carpe Jugulum) and so on. Analogies of real-world issues, such as religion (Small Gods), business and politics (Making Money), are recurring themes, as are music genres such as opera (Maskerade) or rock music (Soul Music). Parodies of non-Discworld fiction also occur frequently, including Shakespeare, Beatrix Potter and several movies. Major historical events, especially battles, are sometimes used as the basis for both trivial and key events in Discworld stories (Jingo, Pyramids), as are trends in science, technology, and pop culture (Moving Pictures, Men at Arms). There are also humanist themes in many of the Discworld novels, and a focus on critical thinking skills in the Witches and Tiffany Aching series.

Storylines

To a greater or lesser degree, Discworld stories stand alone as independent works set in the same fantasy universe. However, a number of novels and stories can be grouped together into grand story arcs dealing with a set number of characters and events, and some books refer to earlier (or later) events. The main threads within the Discworld series are:

Rincewind

Rincewind was the first protagonist of Discworld; a wizard with no skill, no wizardly qualifications and no interest in heroics. He is the archetypal coward, but is constantly thrust into extremely dangerous adventures. In The Last Hero, he flatly states that he does not wish to join an expedition to explore over the edge of the Disc—but, being fully geared for the expedition at the time, clarifies by saying that any amount of protesting on his part is futile, as something will eventually occur that will bring him into the expedition anyway. As such, he not only constantly succeeds in staying alive, but also saves Discworld on several occasions, and has an instrumental role in the emergence of life on Roundworld (Science of Discworld).

Other characters in the Rincewind story arc include: Cohen the Barbarian, an ageing hero of the old fantasy tradition, out of touch with the modern world and still fighting despite his advanced age; Twoflower, a naive tourist from the Agatean Empire (inspired by cultures of the Far East, particularly Japan and China); and The Luggage, a magical, semi-sentient and exceptionally vicious multi-legged travelling accessory, made from sapient pearwood. Rincewind has appeared in eight Discworld novels as well as the three Science of Discworld supplementary books.

Death

Death appears in every novel except The Wee Free Men and Snuff, although sometimes with only a few lines. As dictated by tradition, he is a seven-foot-tall skeleton in a black robe who sits astride a pale horse (called Binky). His dialogue is always depicted in small caps, and without quotation marks, as several characters state that Death's voice seems to arrive in their heads without actually passing through their ears as sound.

As the anthropomorphic personification of death, Death has the job of guiding souls onward from this world into the next. Over millennia in the role, he has developed a fascination with humanity, even going so far as to create a house for himself in his personal dimension.

Characters that often appear with Death include his butler Albert; his granddaughter Susan Sto Helit; the Death of Rats, the part of Death in charge of gathering the souls of rodents; Quoth, a talking raven (a parody of Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven", although it flat-out refuses to say "Nevermore"); and the Auditors of Reality, personifications of the orderly physical laws and the closest thing Death has to a nemesis. Death or Susan appear as the main characters in five Discworld novels. He also appears in the short stories Death and What Comes Next, Theatre of Cruelty and Turntables of the Night.

Death also appears in the non-Discworld novel Good Omens, written by Pratchett and Neil Gaiman.

Witches

Witches in Pratchett's universe are largely stripped of their modern occultist associations (though Pratchett does frequently use his stories to lampoon such conceptions of witchcraft), and act as herbalists, adjudicators and wise women. That is not to say that witches on the Disc cannot use magic; they simply prefer not to, finding simple but cunningly applied psychology (often referred to as "headology", or sometimes "boffo") far more effective.

The principal witch in the series is Granny Weatherwax, who at first glance seems to be a taciturn, bitter old crone, from the small mountain country of Lancre. She largely despises people but takes on the role of their healer and protector because no one else can do the job as well as she can. Her closest friend is Nanny Ogg, a jolly, personable witch with the "common touch" who enjoys a smoke and a pint of beer, often leading to her singing several folk songs including the notorious "Hedgehog Song". The two take on apprentice witches, initially Magrat Garlick, then Agnes Nitt, and then Tiffany Aching, who in turn go on to become accomplished witches in their own right, and, in Magrat's case, Queen of Lancre.

Other characters in the Witches series include: King Verence II of Lancre, a onetime Fool; Jason Ogg, Nanny Ogg's eldest son and local blacksmith; Shawn Ogg, Nanny's youngest son who serves as his country's entire army and civil service; and Nanny's murderous cat Greebo. The witches have appeared in numerous Discworld books, but have featured as main protagonists in seven. They have also appeared in the short story The Sea and Little Fishes. Their stories frequently draw on ancient European folklore and fairy tales, and also parody famous works of literature, particularly by Shakespeare.

City Watch

The stories featuring the Ankh-Morpork City Watch are urban-set, and frequently show the clashes that result when a traditional, magically run fantasy world such as the Disc comes into contact with modern technology and civilization. They centre around the growth of the Ankh-Morpork City Watch from a hopeless gang of three to a fully equipped and efficient police force. The stories are largely police procedurals, featuring crimes that have heavy political or societal overtones.

The main character is Sam Vimes, a haggard, cynical, working-class street copper who, when we first meet him in Guards! Guards!, is the drunken/alcoholic Captain of the 2-person Night Watch: lazy, cowardly, and none-too-bright Sergeant Fred Colon, and Corporal Nobby Nobbs, a petty thief in his own right. Then Carrot Ironfoundersson, a 6-foot-tall dwarf-by-adoption, comes down from the mountains to join the Watch and do real policing. The Night Watch manages to save the city from a dragon, we learn that Carrot is possibly the rightful heir to the throne of Ankh-Morpork, and the Patrician decides to allow Vimes to create a real police force.

Other main characters include Angua, a werewolf; Detritus, a troll; Reg Shoe, a zombie and Dead Rights campaigner; Cuddy, a Dwarf who appears in Men at Arms; Golem Constable Dorfl; Cheery Littlebottom, the Watch's forensics expert, who is one of the first dwarves to be openly female (and who tried to rename herself "Cheri", but without success); Sam's wife, Lady Sybil Vimes (née Ramkin); and Havelock Vetinari, the Patrician of Ankh-Morpork. The City Watch have starred in eight Discworld stories, and have cameoed in a number of others, including the children's book, Where's My Cow? and the short story Theatre of Cruelty.

Pratchett has stated on numerous occasions that the presence of the City Watch makes Ankh-Morpork stories 'problematic', as stories set in the city that do not directly involve Vimes and the Watch often require a Watch presence to maintain the story—at which point, it becomes a Watch story by default.

Wizards

The Wizards of the Unseen University (UU) have represented a strong thread through many of the Discworld novels, although the only books that they star in exclusively are the Science of the Discworld series and the novels Unseen Academicals and The Last Continent. In the early books, the faculty of UU changed frequently, as rising to the top usually involved assassination. However, with the ascension of the bombastic Mustrum Ridcully to the position of Archchancellor, the hierarchy has settled and characters have been given the chance to develop. The earlier books featuring the wizards also frequently dealt with the possible invasion of the Discworld by the creatures from the Dungeon Dimensions, Lovecraftian monsters that hunger for the magic and potential of the Discworld.

The wizards of UU employ the traditional "whizz-bang" type of magic seen in Dungeons & Dragons games, but also investigate the rules and structure of magic in terms highly reminiscent of particle physics. Prominent members include Ponder Stibbons, a geeky young wizard; Hex, the Disc's first computer/semi-sentient thinking engine; the Librarian, who was turned into an orangutan by magical accident; the Dean; the Bursar; the Chair of Indefinite Studies; the Lecturer in Recent Runes; and the Senior Wrangler. In later novels, Rincewind also joins their group, while the Dean leaves to become the Archchancellor of Brazeneck College in the nearby city of Pseudopolis.

The Wizards have featured prominently in nine Discworld books and have also starred in the Science of Discworld series and the short story A Collegiate Casting-Out of Devilish Devices.

Tiffany Aching

Tiffany Aching is a young apprentice witch and star of a series of Discworld books aimed at young adults. Her stories often parallel mythic heroes' quests, but also deal with Tiffany's difficulties as a young girl maturing into a responsible woman. She is aided in her task by the Nac Mac Feegle, a gang of blue-tattooed, 6-inch tall, hard-drinking, loud-mouthed pictsie creatures also called "The Wee Free Men" who serve as her guardians. Both Granny Weatherwax and Nanny Ogg have also appeared in her stories. She has, to date, appeared in four novels (The Wee Free Men, A Hat Full of Sky, Wintersmith and I Shall Wear Midnight). Major characters in this series include Miss Tick, who discovered Tiffany; Annagramma Hawkin, Petulia Gristle, and Nac Mac Feegle chieftain Rob Anybody.

Moist von Lipwig

Moist von Lipwig is a professional criminal and con man to whom Havelock Vetinari gives a "second chance" after staging his execution, recognising the advantages his jack-of-all-trades abilities would have to the development of the city. After setting him in charge of the Ankh-Morpork Post Office in Going Postal, to good result, Vetinari ordered him to clear up the city's corrupt financial sector in Making Money. A third book, Raising Steam published on 7 November 2013 features Lipwig's further exploits as a pioneer to the newly invented locomotive. Other characters in this series include Adora Belle Dearheart, Lipwig's acerbic, chain-smoking wife; Gladys, a golem who develops a strange crush on Lipwig, Stanley Howler, a mildly autistic young man who was raised by peas and becomes the Disc's first stamp collector, and the very old Junior Postman Groat, who never got promoted to Senior Postman because there was never a Postmaster alive long enough to do so.

Discworld cultures

Several other books can be grouped together as "Other cultures of Discworld" books. They may contain characters or locations from other arcs, typically not as a main protagonist or antagonist but as a supporting character or even a throwaway reference. These include Pyramids (Djelibeybi), Small Gods (Omnia), and Monstrous Regiment (Zlobenia and Borogravia).

Characters

Short descriptions of many of the notable characters that Pratchett has populated Discworld with can be found on the following pages:

Bibliography

Novels

No.	Title	Published	Groups	Notes
1	The Colour of Magic	1983	Rincewind	Came 93rd in the Big Read.
2	The Light Fantastic	1986	Rincewind
3	Equal Rites	1987	The Witches, The Wizards
4	Mort	1987	Death	Came 65th in the Big Read
5	Sourcery	1988	Rincewind, The Wizards
6	Wyrd Sisters	1988	The Witches	Came 135th in the Big Read
7	Pyramids	1989	Discworld Cultures (Djelibeybi)	British Science Fiction Award winner, 1989[6]
8	Guards! Guards!	1989	The City Watch	Came 69th in the Big Read
9	Eric	1990	Rincewind	Published in a larger format and fully illustrated by Josh Kirby
10	Moving Pictures	1990	Miscellaneous (Holy Wood), The Wizards
11	Reaper Man	1991	Death, The Wizards	Came 126th in the Big Read
12	Witches Abroad	1991	The Witches	Came 197th in the Big Read
13	Small Gods	1992	Discworld Cultures (Omnia), The History Monks	Came 102nd in the Big Read
14	Lords and Ladies	1992	The Witches, The Wizards
15	Men at Arms	1993	The City Watch	Came 148th in the Big Read
16	Soul Music	1994	Death, Susan Sto Helit, The Wizards	Came 151st in the Big Read
17	Interesting Times	1994	Rincewind, The Wizards
18	Maskerade	1995	The Witches
19	Feet of Clay	1996	The City Watch
20	Hogfather	1996	Death, Susan Sto Helit, The Wizards	Came 137th in the Big Read; British Fantasy Award nominee, 1997[7]
21	Jingo	1997	The City Watch
22	The Last Continent	1998	Rincewind, The Wizards
23	Carpe Jugulum	1998	The Witches
24	The Fifth Elephant	1999	The City Watch	Came 153rd in the Big Read; Locus Fantasy Award nominee, 2000[8]
25	The Truth	2000	Ankh-Morpork, The City Watch, The Ankh-Morpork Times	Came 193rd in the Big Read
26	Thief of Time	2001	Death, Susan Sto Helit, The History Monks	Came 152nd in the Big Read; Locus Award nominee, 2002[9]
27	The Last Hero	2001	Rincewind, The Wizards, The City Watch	Published in a larger format and fully illustrated by Paul Kidby
28	The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents	2001	Miscellaneous (Überwald)	A YA (young adult or children's) Discworld book; winner of the 2001 Carnegie Medal
29	Night Watch	2002	The City Watch, The History Monks	Received the Prometheus Award in 2003; came 73rd in the Big Read; Locus Award nominee, 2003[10]
30	The Wee Free Men	2003	Tiffany Aching	The second YA Discworld book; also published in larger format and fully illustrated by Stephen Player
31	Monstrous Regiment	2003	Discworld Cultures (Borogravia), The City Watch, The Ankh-Morpork Times	The title is a reference to The First Blast of the Trumpet Against the Monstrous Regiment of Women;[11] 2004 nominee for Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel.[12]
32	A Hat Full of Sky	2004	Tiffany Aching, The Witches	The third YA Discworld book
33	Going Postal	2004	Moist von Lipwig, Ankh-Morpork	Locus and Nebula Awards nominee, 2005[13]
34	Thud!	2005	The City Watch	Locus Award nominee, 2006[14]
35	Wintersmith	2006	Tiffany Aching, The Witches	The fourth YA book.
36	Making Money	2007	Moist von Lipwig, Ankh-Morpork	Locus Award winner, Nebula nominee, 2008[15]
37	Unseen Academicals	2009[16]	The Wizards, Rincewind, Miscellaneous (Nutt)	Locus Award Nominee, 2010
38	I Shall Wear Midnight[17]	2010	Tiffany Aching, The Witches	Fifth YA book, Andre Norton winner, 2010[18]
39	Snuff	2011	The City Watch (Sam Vimes)	Third fastest selling book in first week of publication[19]
40	Raising Steam[20][21][22]	2013[23][24]	Moist von Lipwig,[25] Ankh-Morpork

Future works

Pratchett has occasionally hinted at other possible future Discworld novels. These include:

• Scouting for Trolls^[26]

Short stories

There are also a number of short stories by Pratchett based in the Discworld, including published miscellanea such as the fictional game origins of Thud. All are available in the 2012 anthology A Blink of the Screen as well as in the following locations:

• "Troll Bridge" – in After The King: Stories in honour of J. R. R. Tolkien (1992); reprinted in The Mammoth Book of Comic Fantasy edited by Mike Ashley (1998); available online^[27]
• "Theatre of Cruelty" (1993); available online^[28]
• "The Sea and Little Fishes" – in Legends (1998), anthology of novellas taking place within popular fantasy cycles edited by Robert Silverberg
• "Death and What Comes Next" (2002); available online^[28]
• "A Collegiate Casting-Out of Devilish Devices" (2005); available online^[29]

Seven of the short stories or short writings were also collected in a 2004 compilation of the majority of Pratchett's known short work named Once More* With Footnotes.

Additionally, another short story "Turntables of the Night" (1989) is set in England but features Death as a character; it is available online and in both anthologies.

Mapps

Furthermore, there are four "Mapps": The Streets of Ankh-Morpork (1993), The Discworld Mapp (1995), A Tourist Guide to Lancre (1998), and Death's Domain (1999). The first two were drawn by Stephen Player, based on plans by Pratchett and Stephen Briggs, the third is a collaboration between Briggs and Kidby, and the last is by Paul Kidby. All also contain booklets written by Pratchett and Briggs.

Terry Pratchett has said, "There are no maps. You can't map a sense of humour."

Several Discworld locations have been twinned with real world towns and cities. Wincanton, in Somerset, UK, for example is twinned with Ankh-Morpork, and the town is the first to even name streets after their fictional equivalents.^[30][31]

Science books

Pratchett has also collaborated with Ian Stewart and Jack Cohen on four books, using the Discworld to illuminate popular science topics. Each book alternates chapters of a Discworld story and notes on real science related to it. The books are:

• The Science of Discworld (1999)
• The Science of Discworld II: The Globe (2002)
• The Science of Discworld III: Darwin's Watch (2005)
• The Science of Discworld IV: Judgement Day (2013)

Quiz books

Two Discworld Quiz books have been compiled by David Langford:

• The Unseen University Challenge (1996), parodying the TV quiz show University Challenge
• The Wyrdest Link (2002), parodying the TV quiz show The Weakest Link

Diaries

Most years see the release of a Discworld Diary and Calendar, both usually following a particular theme.

The diaries feature background information about their themes. Some topics are later used in the series; the concept of female assassins and the character of Miss Alice Band were two notable ideas that first appeared in the Assassins' Guild Yearbook.

The Discworld Almanak – The Year of The Prawn has a similar format and general contents to the diaries.

Other books

Other Discworld publications include:

• The Discworld Companion (1994) An encyclopaedia of Discworld information, compiled by Pratchett and Briggs. An updated version was released in 2003, titled The New Discworld Companion. A further updated version was released in 2012, titled Turtle Recall: The Discworld Companion . . . So Far.^[32]
• The Discworld Portfolio (1996) A collection of Paul Kidby's artwork, with notes by Pratchett.
• Nanny Ogg's Cookbook (2002) A collection of Discworld recipes, combined with etiquette, language of flowers etc., written by Pratchett with Stephen Briggs and Tina Hannan.
• The Art of Discworld (2004) Another collection of Paul Kidby's art.
• The Discworld Almanak (2004) An almanac for the Discworld year, in the style of the Diaries and the Cookbook, written by Pratchett with Bernard Pearson.
• Where's My Cow? (2005) A Discworld picture book referenced in Thud!. and Wintersmith, written by Pratchett with illustrations by Melvyn Grant
• The Unseen University Cut Out Book (2006) Build your own Unseen University, written by Pratchett with Alan Batley and Bernard Pearson, published 1 October 2006.
• Wit and Wisdom of Discworld (2007) A collection of quotations from the series.
• The Folklore of Discworld (2008) A collaboration with British folklorist Jacqueline Simpson, discussing the myths and folklore used in Discworld.
• The World of Poo (Discworld novel) (2012) Another in-universe children's book (similar to Where's My Cow), referenced in Snuff.
• The Compleat Ankh-Morpork: City Guide^[33] (2012) The complete guide to the city of Ankh-Morpork

Reading order

Rather than reading the books in publication order, another approach would be to read each storyline chronologically.^[34]

The books take place roughly in real time and the characters' ages change to reflect the passing of years. The meeting of various characters from different narrative threads (e.g. Ridcully and Granny Weatherwax in Lords and Ladies, Rincewind and Carrot in The Last Hero) indicates that all the main storylines take place around the same period of time (end of the Century of the Fruitbat, beginning of the Century of the Anchovy).

Many stories (such as The Truth and Monstrous Regiment) nominally stand alone but, nonetheless, tie in heavily with main storylines. Many of these "standalone" stories deal with the development of the city of Ankh-Morpork into a technologically and magically advanced metropolis that readers will find analogous to real-world cities: for example, The Truth catalogues the rise of a newspaper service for the city, the Ankh-Morpork Times.

Some main characters may make cameo appearances in other books where they are not the primary focus; for example, City Watch members Carrot Ironfoundersson and Angua appear briefly in Going Postal, Making Money, and Unseen Academicals (placing those books after Guards! Guards! and Men at Arms). A number of characters, such as members of staff of Unseen University and Lord Vetinari, appear prominently in many different storylines without having specific storylines of their own.

Krzysztof K. Kietzmann (and his followers) has assembled a graphical suggested reading order broken down according to the various story threads and cross-thread appearances by characters.^[34][35][36]

Adaptations

Stage

Stage adaptations of 15 Discworld novels have been published. The adaptations are by Stephen Briggs (apart from Lords and Ladies by Irana Brown), and were first produced by the Studio Theatre Club in Abingdon, Oxfordshire. They include adaptations of The Truth, Maskerade, Mort, Wyrd Sisters and Guards! Guards! Stage adaptations of Discworld novels have been performed on every continent in the world, including Antarctica.

A stage version of Eric, adapted for the stage by Scott Harrison and Lee Harris, was produced and performed by The Dreaming Theatre Company in June/July 2003 inside Clifford's Tower, the 700-year-old castle keep in York. It was revived in 2004 in a tour of England along with Robert Rankin's The Antipope. Small Gods was adapted for the stage by Ben Saunders and was performed in February 2011 at the Assembly Rooms Theatre, Durham by Ooook! Productions and members of Durham Student Theatre. Ooook! productions also staged an adaptation of Thief of Time, adapted by Tim Foster, in February 2013 at the Assembly Rooms Theatre.

Film and television

Due in part to the complexity of the novels, Discworld has been difficult to adapt to film – Pratchett is fond of an anecdote of a producer attempting to pitch an adaptation of Mort in the early 1990s but was told to "lose the Death angle" by US backers.^[37]

A list of adaptations include:

• Terry Pratchett's Hogfather: In the UK, Sky One commissioned a £6 million 'made for television' adaptation of Hogfather with David Jason playing the role of Albert. It was first broadcast in December 2006 and features Terry Pratchett in a brief cameo role as the Toymaker.^[38][39]
• Terry Pratchett's The Colour of Magic (based on both The Colour of Magic and The Light Fantastic): David Jason played 'Rincewind'. This adaptation aired in the UK over Easter 2008 and also features Terry Pratchett in a brief cameo role as an Astrozoologist.^[40]
• Terry Pratchett's Going Postal, produced by Sky1. It stars Richard Coyle, David Suchet, Charles Dance, Claire Foy, Steve Pemberton, Andrew Sachs and Tamsin Greig. Terry Pratchett also appears in a cameo role as a postman. It was first broadcast in May 2010.
• Lords and Ladies: A fan movie adaptation of Lords and Ladies by Almost No Budget Films was completed in Germany.^[41]
• Mort: A fan movie adaptation of Mort by Orange Cow Production, 2001, 26 minutes.^[42]
• Run Rincewind Run!: A Snowgum Films original story created for Nullus Anxietas. Stars Troy Larkin as Rincewind, and features Terry Pratchett as himself.
• Cosgrove Hall produced 6x30 minute animated adaptations of two books for Channel 4 in 1996. These were made available on DVD and VHS in the US from Acorn Media, though they are now out of print. Both series are available on a DVD boxset in Region 2
  • Soul Music – Starring Christopher Lee as Death, also featuring Neil Morrissey and Graham Crowden. First episode broadcast on 18 May 1997. The soundtrack to Soul Music was also released on CD.
  • Wyrd Sisters – Starring Christopher Lee as Death, also featuring Annette Crosbie, June Whitfield, Jane Horrocks and Les Dennis. First episode broadcast on 28 December 1998.

A list of adaptations in pre-production include:

• Troll Bridge: Australian group Snowgum Films has completed principal photography and is working through post-production.^[43]
• The Wee Free Men: In January 2006 it was announced that Sam Raimi would direct an adaptation of The Wee Free Men for Sony Pictures^[44][45] but he then moved on to other projects. On 1 November 2013, Rhianna Pratchett announced on Twitter that she was adapting Wee Free Men into a feature length film.^[46]
• The Watch: Pratchett's daughter, Rhianna, announced in August 2012 an establishment of a new production company, Narrativia, which will produce a 13-part TV series based on the Ankh-Morpork City Watch.^[47][48]
• Terry Pratchett's Unseen Academicals, announced commencement of production in 2011.^[49][50]

Radio

There have been several BBC radio adaptations of Discworld stories, including Wyrd Sisters, Guards! Guards! (narrated by Martin Jarvis), Mort, and Small Gods. On 27 February 2008, BBC Radio 4 aired the first of a five-part, weekly adaptation of Night Watch. These were also repeated in January 2010.

Pratchett's latest work to feature on Radio 4 is the 1990 discworld novel, Eric. The 4-part dramatised adaptation started on 6 March 2013.^[51]

Audio books

Most of Pratchett's novels have been released as audio cassette and latterly CD audio books. Unabridged recordings of books 1–23 in the above list, except for books 3, 6 and 9, are read by Nigel Planer. Books 3 and 6 are read by Celia Imrie. Book 9 and most of the books from 24 onward are read by Stephen Briggs. Abridged versions are read by Tony Robinson. Fantastic Audio also recorded two Discworld novels: Thief of Time & Night Watch. The audio books are available for download via online retailers in unabridged format with some abridged versions also available.

Comic books

The Colour of Magic, The Light Fantastic, Mort and Guards! Guards! have been adapted into graphic novels.

Merchandise

Various other types of related merchandise have been produced by cottage industries with an interest in the books, including Stephen Briggs, Bernard Pearson, Bonsai Trading, Paul Kidby and Clarecraft.

Musical releases include:

• Dave Greenslade: Terry Pratchett's From the Discworld, 1994 (Virgin CDV 2738.7243 8 39512 2 2).^[52]
• Keith Hopwood: Soul Music — Terry Pratchett's Discworld, 1998 (Proper Music Distribution / Pluto Music TH 030746), soundtrack to the animated adaptation of Soul Music.

Pratchett co-authored with Phil Masters two role-playing game supplements for Discworld, utilising the GURPS system:

• GURPS Discworld (republished as The Discworld Roleplaying Game)
• GURPS Discworld Also

Video games:

• The Colour of Magic (Sinclair ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64)
• Discworld MUD (Internet)
• Discworld (PC/DOS, Macintosh, PlayStation, Saturn)
• Discworld II: Missing Presumed...!? (Discworld II: Mortality Bytes! in North America) (PC/Windows, PC/DOS, PlayStation, Saturn)
• Discworld Noir (PC/Windows, PlayStation)
• Discworld: The Colour of Magic (Mobile phone)

Miniature figures:

• A selection of figures has been produced by Micro Art Studio ^[53]

The board game Thud was created by puzzle compiler Trevor Truran. Two further board games were released in 2011. The first, Guards! Guards! A Discworld Boardgame, was created by designers Leonard Boyd & David Brashaw (Backspindle Games) and published by Z-Man Games. The first copies went on sale on July 8, 2011 at the North American Discworld Convention, exactly twenty years after Leonard had conceived the first draft in 1991. The box cover and 90 Discworld character cards were illustrated by Stephen Player.^[54] The second, Discworld: Ankh-Morpork, was designed by Martin Wallace and released by Treefrog Games in three different editions, each with different content and different game boards; the collectible editions also have different numbering system (the number 8 is replaced by 7a).^[55] A follow-up game called The Witches, also by Wallace, will be released by Treefrog in September 2013.^[56]

The card game Cripple Mr Onion is adapted from the novels.

See also

• Discworld characters
• Discworld geography
• Other dimensions of the Discworld
• The North American Discworld Convention

References

External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Discworld

• Discworld Wiki (L-Space)
• Discworld & Pratchett Wiki
• Discworld Covers Wiki Book covers collection from all over the world.
• Discworld Convention The UK Discworld Convention
• NADWCon The North American Discworld Convention
• Nullus Anxietas The Australian Discworld Convention
• Discworld Monthly monthly email newsletter / website about Terry Pratchett and Discworld.
• Gallery of Terry Pratchett's Discworld- TV Dramatisation

v t e Terry Pratchett's Discworld Novels The Colour of Magic The Light Fantastic Equal Rites Mort Sourcery Wyrd Sisters Pyramids Guards! Guards! Faust Eric Moving Pictures Reaper Man Witches Abroad Small Gods Lords and Ladies Men at Arms Soul Music Interesting Times Maskerade Feet of Clay Hogfather Jingo The Last Continent Carpe Jugulum The Fifth Elephant The Truth Thief of Time The Last Hero The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents Night Watch The Wee Free Men Monstrous Regiment A Hat Full of Sky Going Postal Thud! Wintersmith Making Money Unseen Academicals I Shall Wear Midnight Snuff Raising Steam Short stories "Troll Bridge" "Theatre of Cruelty" "The Sea and Little Fishes" "Death and What Comes Next" "A Collegiate Casting-Out of Devilish Devices" A Blink of the Screen (anthology) Other books The Discworld Companion The Science of Discworld The Science of Discworld II: The Globe The Science of Discworld III: Darwin's Watch The Science of Discworld IV: Judgement Day The Pratchett Portfolio The Art of Discworld The Unseen University Challenge The Wyrdest Link The Streets of Ankh-Morpork The Discworld Mapp A Tourist Guide to Lancre Death's Domain Nanny Ogg's Cookbook The Discworld Almanak Where's My Cow? The Unseen University Cut Out Book The Discworld Diaries Once More* With Footnotes The Wit and Wisdom of Discworld The Folklore of Discworld The World of Poo The Compleat Ankh-Morpork: City Guide Games The Colour of Magic Discworld MUD Discworld Discworld II GURPS Discworld Discworld Noir Guards! Guards! A Discworld Boardgame Discworld: Ankh-Morpork Films and TV series Welcome to the Discworld Soul Music Wyrd Sisters Hogfather The Colour of Magic Going Postal Unseen Academicals The Watch Characters Tiffany Aching Death Hex Moist von Lipwig Nanny Ogg Rincewind Susan Sto Helit Havelock Vetinari Sam Vimes Granny Weatherwax more... Races and creatures Auditors of Reality Dwarfs Elves Gods Golems (characters) Nac Mac Feegle (characters) Trolls (characters) Undead (characters) Igors Other races Flora and fauna of the Discworld Locations Discworld Discworld geography Ankh-Morpork Other dimensions Organisations Assassins' Guild (members) Other Guilds City Watch (members) History Monks (members) Unseen University (members) The Witches Other Technology of the Discworld (Inventors) Religions of the Discworld (characters) Games of the Discworld Book:Discworld Portal:Discworld

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